What I Need
by elektralyte
Summary: What if Tiana and Naveen had stayed frogs after they married? How would it affect those left behind? This is the story of how Eudora learns to cope with the help of a little friend.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** What I Need

**Author:** elektralyte

**Rating:** K+

**Characters/Pairings:** Eudora, OC

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Princess and the Frog_. It is the property of Disney and Buena Vista Studios. I write for fun and have no intentions of profiting off this piece.

**Summary:** What if Tiana and Naveen had stayed frogs after they married? How would it affect those left behind? This is the story of how Eudora learns to cope with the help of a little friend.

**A/N:** Once again it's self beta'd. Apologies for any grammatical errors.

* * *

**Prologue**

_Two hundred, one hundred ninety-nine, one hundred ninety-eight, one hundred, ninety-seven..._

One hundred, ninety-seven is Mama Odie's age when Tiana and Naveen first meet her; not that Eudora knows this.

_...one hundred seventy-two, one hundred seventy-one, one hundred seventy..._

One hundred seventy is the number of stitches Eudora had knitted for the baby blanket that lays carefully folded in the chest beside her bureau. It's been there for many years now.

_...one hundred forty-seven, one hundred forty-six, one hundred forty-five..._

$145.00 is the price of a brown mahogany Queen Ann Table in 1924 that Eudora finds in a catalog some years back. She doesn't buy it, secretly feeding her money instead to the growing collection of coffee cans in her daughter's armoire.

_...n__inety-two, ninety-one, ninety__..._

Ninety is the number of days it takes James to propose to Eudora after the first time they meet.

_...s__ixty-two, sixty-one, sixty__..._

Sixty is the number of dresses Eudora has made for one Charlotte La Bouff, her best customer.

_...fifty, forty-nine, forty-eight..._

Forty-eight years old. That is Eudora's age as of today.

_...twenty-seven, twenty-six, twenty-five..._

Twenty-five years old would be Tiana's age if she were still around.

_...twenty-one, twenty, nineteen..._

Nineteen is her age when she leaves for good.

_...sixteen, fifteen, fourteen..._

Fourteen years ago James died, somewhere in Germany.

_...seven, six..._

Six is the number of years since she's last seen Tiana.

_...two..._

Two is the number of left feet her daughter has.

_...zero. _

That is the number of nights Eudora has slept without interruption _since_...

Her breathing becomes choked hitches as the weight of her loneliness sets in again.

_...since..._

Eudora allows the stinging pricks behind her closed eyes to well into tears. She doesn't wipe them away as they track down her temple and into her gray hair.

_...since..._

She turns her head to the side and rubs her face into her pillow to dry her eyes. Her room is dark as she stares at nothing in particular. She chuffs out another breath, and starts again.

_Two hundred, one hundred ninety-nine, one hundred ninety-eight..._

It's going to be another long night.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** What I Need

**Author:** elektralyte

**Rating:** K+

**Characters/Pairings:** Eudora, OC

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Princess and the Frog_. It is the property of Disney and Buena Vista Studios. I write for fun and have no intentions of profiting off this piece.

**Summary:** What if Tiana and Naveen had stayed frogs after they married? How would it affect those left behind? This is the story of how Eudora learns to cope with the help of a little friend.

**A/N:** Once again it's self beta'd. Apologies for any grammatical errors.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Eudora made her way to her favorite bakery. She had delivered her client's new dress and decided to celebrate by picking up a small pastry to take home with her.

She normally wouldn't indulge because she had to be careful with money. As the ache in her knuckles grew more pronounced, who could say how many years she'd be able to continue sewing? She'd best save up as much as she could, just in case.

The yeasty scent of freshly baked bread teased its way through the shop door, beckoning Eudora. She opened it and was assaulted by the delightful smells of sweet cakes and tarts.

"Afternoon Ms. Eudora," the portly baker greeted.

"Good afternoon to you Ms. Edna. My, everything smells so good."

"Thank you ma'am, anything you interested in particular?"

Eudora thought on it for a moment. Pie sounded just about wonderful, but she didn't want a whole one just for herself.

"Do you have any pie already cut? I just want a slice, maybe two to take home with me..."

The sight of beignets caught her attention, distracting her for a moment.

"Oh we have a lovely peach cobbler," the baker answered. "One slice or two? Ms. Eudora?"

Ms. Edna saw that Eudora was preoccupied with the beignets. She gave a little sigh before remarking, "your little girl made the best ones. Tiana truly had a gift."

"Has," Eudora whispered. She imagined her daughter, twirling about as she dusted the fried confections with powdered sugar.

"Beg pardon?"

Eudora snapped out of her thoughts and gave the baker a wry smile. "I'll take two slices of that peach cobbler if you don't mind Ms. Edna."

She reached into her purse, pulled out some coins and handed it to the other woman. The baker handed her a box with two slices of pie wrapped in wax paper. Eudora thanked her, then left to go home.

While Eudora wasn't going home empty-handed, truth be told, she wasn't hungry anymore. The box of pie now felt as heavy as lead and just as unwanted at the moment.

_Maybe I should give it to Mr. Arwine, _she decided remembering her elderly neighbor._ At his age I'm sure he doesn't get out much anymore._

With that thought in mind she began trudging up to the street to catch the trolley. She passed a narrow alley to her right.

_Whimper._

_What?_ There was no one around, yet she heard it, plain as day. A tiny sniffle, like the kind a child would make.

_Sniff, sniff, hiccup-_

_There it is again._ With that thought, she peered a little more closely into the alley.

Was she finally losing her mind? She could see nothing there, but the alley was dark. She took a cautious step into the narrow opening. Slender shafts of the afternoon sun sliced their way through the darkness, barely lighting up the area enough to give Eudora a view.

It was your normal dark alley, debris and junk pushed up against the walls while papers, boxes and garbage littered the ground. She gingerly side-stepped a dirty puddle of water and worked her way towards the back of the alley.

There seemed to be movement in one of the corners. As she leaned in to get a better look, something hissed at her! A rustle revealed glowing red eyes. What ever it was, darted into a slice of light and hissed at Eudora once more.

_A RAT!_

Eudora nearly stumbled from being startled so badly! The vermin was huge, gray and ugly as sin.

_Oh my Lord_, she thought as she began to back away from the menace. _That'll teach me to poke my nose were it don't belong..."_

"Help me, please!"

The small plea held her in place. Unfortunately the rat heard it too and turned around to face his prey once more.

"Don't let it eat me!" The child-like voice pleaded.

Her heart ached at the sound. Although she couldn't see who was begging there was no way Eudora was letting a rat harm a child. Thinking quickly she pulled one of the slices of cobbler out of her box. She set the piece down in front of her and carefully unwrapped the wax paper so the rat could get a good whiff.

"Mr. Rat, why don't you have this here piece of pie instead. You know it's good. Here, try it," she coaxed.

The rat shot her a look of skepticism before taking a nibble. It twitched its whiskers twice before giving her another look, this one filled with expectation.

"Well bless your heart, you are a greedy one, ain't you Mr. Rat? Here, have another piece and leave that poor child alone!"

She pulled out the other piece from her box, this time not as carefully as before. A large chunk was left behind as she added the rest to what was already on the ground.

'Mr. Rat' tugged one of the corners of the wax paper with its over-sized front teeth and dragged the cobbler out of sight. Eudora shook her head in disbelief.

She turned back to the corner and whispered, "you can come out now..."

"Is it gone?" It asked, still full of fear.

"Yes little one, it's gone now," she answered reassuringly.

Whoever/whatever was hiding in the corner crept forward. What emerged from the darkness was too tiny to be a child. Or perhaps it was a child, but certainly too tiny to be human. And far too green.

Eudora leaned closer to get a better look. Her heart raced when she saw what it was. It was a beautiful, tiny frog, with skin that was green, sleek and shiny. The under side of its belly was a much lighter, nearly white tint. It had perfect little webbed feet and hands but what really caught her attention was its eyes.

The eyes were neither reptilian, nor amphibian. They were warm and brown.

_They're so very human-like, so much like my..._

She could not pursue that thought, even though she had seen one other talking—

_NO! It's not possible!_

Her body began shaking as her mind churned through the possibilities. Meanwhile it sat there, in the manner that frogs do. Then it sat up and gave her a woeful glance before rubbing its belly in a child-like manner.

"Excuse me ma'am, but do you have any pie left? I'm so hungry..."

_Frogs eat pie? Imagine that,_ she thought stupidly. _After all, this frog could talk, why shouldn't it eat pie?_

Eudora stuck her hand out, palm up and replied, "I-I think there's something left for you, little one."

The tiny frog climbed up her fingers and into her hand. Ever so gently, she placed the small creature in the dessert box. The little frog began nibbling contentedly on the chunk of pie that was still in it.

"W-would you like to come home with me?" She finally asked. "It might be safer than staying out here."

The frog looked up from the crust it was nibbling on and shook its head yes.

"Oh thank you ma'am! I'd like that very much!" It responded in delight.

Eudora slowly stood up, feeling a bit wobbly and loose. Whether it was from crouching all this time or from the surreality of the situation she found herself in she could not tell.

She closed the lid loosely enough to allow some light for the small passenger, then began the long trek home.

_Oh my Lord,_ she thought as she caught the trolley at the corner. _What am I doing?_

TBC


End file.
